A Whateley Academy Adventure

Valentine Crush

by

Domoviye

Sedona, Arizona
December 15th, 2016

“Hey Li, got your homework done? “Jackson asked his seatmate and friend in English class.

The girl blushed, like always. “Yeah. Did you get it done or do you need to copy mine?” she asked in something that was a little louder than a whisper.

He resisted sighing. The rail thin girl was so obvious about her crush that the only people who didn't know it, were their parents, who were best friends, so they always had the pair of them meeting up. He didn't have anything against Li, she was a nice girl, practically his sister from how they'd hung out since they were in diapers. But her idea of a good time was reading about quantum physics, the layman books, not the actual equations, although she was working her way up to that. The fact she looked like an underfed twelve year old boy didn't help matters.

“I'm good, thanks. I heard you're going to be sticking around town for Christmas, that's too bad.”

Smiling at him with puppy dog eyes, she shrugged. “I go to San Francisco every year, it's not a big deal anymore. And with mom's broken leg, driving or taking the plane would be really uncomfortable for her. I'm sure you and I can come up with something fun to do. Maybe we could hike the Soldier Pass Trail to the Seven Sacred pools? It won't be crowded at Christmas.”

It didn't pass unnoticed that she had left out that it would likely just be the two of them for miles around in what was considered one of the prettiest spots near Sedona. “That could be fun. We can ask some of the guys to come with us, make it a bit of a party.”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Li said quietly, turning back to her notebook.

Luckily Mrs. Hudson came in at that moment to start class. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Jackson opened his own books and focused on the English lesson.

Li Chen sat in her room staring at the picture she'd had a VI art program make for her. It showed a beautiful Chinese woman, large breasts, nice curvy hips, a slim waist, cute dimples, long graceful arms and legs, long black hair, high cheekbones, and a delicate chin, topped off by plump kissable lips. It was everything that she wasn't.

Opening the closet door she looked at the full length mirror she hated so much. It didn't show anything different from that morning or yesterday, or last year. Even in her underwear she looked like a boy. She didn't really need a bra, and hadn't gotten past the trainers and chemises she'd had when she was eleven. Her hips were non-existent, her thin hair would snap and get split ends if she let it go past her shoulders. Chubby cheeks, chinless, glasses. No wonder Jackson didn't want to date her. She didn't even want to look at herself.

Slamming the closet shut, she sat on her bed, fighting back tears. Taking a jade phoenix her grandma had bought her for her birthday back in October, that was supposed to be good luck, she held it tightly between her hands. “Please let me manifest and become pretty. It doesn't even have to be really beautiful. Just nice enough that Jackson will notice me. Please,” she begged, just like she had been doing every night for over a month.

Picturing the ideal her hugging Jackson, Li didn't realize her eyes glowed for a moment before going back to their ordinary dark brown.

December 20th

Putting on his hoodie, Jackson headed downstairs to put on his shoes. “Yo, Marshall, get a move on,” he shouted at his younger brother.

“Yeah, yeah,” the ten year old said. “I'm coming. We don't want to be late to meet your girlfriend.”

“Li isn't my girlfriend. She's just a friend.”

The tow headed boy smirked. “Right. Does she know that.”

Running a hand through his blond hair, Jackson sighed. “Shut up, or I'll tell mom and dad how you used that new VI program to do your history presentation for you.”

His brother rolled his eyes, but shut up long enough to put on a jacket. They got their bikes from the garage and headed for the nearby downtown. The small city made everything close enough that bikes or feet could get you almost anywhere you needed to go. So the only time they needed to use the shuttle bus was when it was raining or too hot.

“Hey! Slow down, you're going to fast!” Marshal shouted.

“I'm not, you're just slow,” Jackson called back. He slowed a down a little, not wanting to lose his brother, too much. He hadn't been going that fast, but somehow the ten year old was far behind him. Cruising along, he let Marshall.

Even with Marshall riding slower than he wanted to, they soon made it to the Palo Verde Art Gallery. Locking up their bikes they headed inside to meet their mom. With tourist season being over, the gallery which sold art of all kind from local artists, was empty except for Li, her mother Ai Chen, and their own mom, Jeanne Anderson.

Li and their mom were tidying up, which mostly involved dusting, while Ai sat with her broken leg propped up, dealing with emails. In the off season they would be lucky to get one or two customers a day. Come tourist season the adobe style building would be full of people looking for souvenirs to show they'd been to Sedona. Those busy months made it possible for the shop to stay open year round.

Grabbing a broom, Jackson started sweeping. “Hey there. Sold anything today?”

“We finally sold that hideous wood carving this morning,” his mom said.

“It wasn't that bad,” Ai replied. “It was just... different.”

“It looked like it was going to come alive and eat someone. If it was from almost anyone other than Etcitty, I wouldn't have taken it.”

“I thought the Olitiau was pretty cool. Who doesn't like a giant flesh-eating bat that looks like it's about to pounce on you when your back is turned?” Jackson said. He was actually being somewhat serious, the carving would have been great for a horror movie. And the Navajo artist said he'd made the carving from a childhood memory of the flying monster when it had attacked him. He even had two nasty crescent shaped scars on his shoulder that looked like a bite mark.

“I liked it too,” Li said.

Biting back a sigh, Jackson didn't call her out on it. He knew she had hated the thing, and the few times Li had been in the gallery after dark, she'd stayed as far away from the carving as possible. She was only claiming to like it because he did.

As if that would make him fall in love with her.

“Well, it's gone, and we made a nice profit, so it's all good,” his mom said. “What do people want to eat tonight?”

“Burgers,” Jackson suggested.

At the same moment, Li said, “Pizza.” Then she blushed, looked at him and quickly changed it to, “Burgers for me too.”

Their mothers smiled at each other in the annoying way parent did when they thought something embarrassing was cute. Marshall made a kissy face behind their back, which just made Li blush even more as she smiled.

“All right let's go to the Open Range,” Jeanne said. “We'll let your fathers know to meet us there.”

While his mom and Ai closed up the gallery, Jackson kept sweeping and tidying up. Li made sure to stick close to him, which just made Marshall grin and try to embarrass him. He wished everything could just go back to normal like it was a year ago.

“Hey Jackson,” Li said, “after supper do you want to go for a bike ride?” It looked like she was trying to push her chest out, which made her lack of anything up top even more obvious. He could generously say it looked like she had two fried eggs under her shirt.

“Sure, Li.” He knew he was going to regret it, but they were friends. He didn't want to date her, but he liked talk to her. “We can ride up to the old rock.”

She beamed with delight. “We can look at the stars together.”

Oh yeah, he was going to regret everything.

The night was cold, even with his winter coat. The full moon made the red rocks that filled the local desert shine. In the moonlight he could see their breath as they sat on a big old rock that was pretty popular with the kids, and was far enough away from the tourist paths that they could hang out with some privacy. The winter sky was crystal clear and the stars stretched out for eternity.

“Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a mutant?” Li asked.

“Sometimes. Being a superhero would be cool. Actually just being able to fly would be really cool. But there are a few too many drawbacks to make me dream about it. I don't want to worry about the MCO or all of that crap. I'll wait for the jetpack to become safe enough for regular use.”

“You heard my cousin Mei is a mutant right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I heard our parents talking about it. She's an... exemplar right?”

“Uh huh. An exemplar 1, she mostly became prettier all of a sudden and got red streaks through her hair.” She sighed. “I'd like to be a mutant, even if I don't get any special powers. Think of it, overnight becoming really cool looking, maybe with something that makes you just a little exotic, so you stand out. A little smarter. It would be nice,” she said softly.

Jackson winced as his arms and shoulders suddenly cramped up. Rolling his shoulders the pain mostly went away. “Maybe,” he said after a minute. “Or you could end up covered in scales. Or with wires for hair. Turning into something like the Mogollon Monster can't be fun.”

“I don't think I have to worry about that. I read that Exemplars usually resemble their inner thoughts and feelings. You want to be big and tough, maybe you get really muscular, or you start looking like a tough monster. If you're depressed and unhappy, you start to look like that. I could picture myself becoming pretty cute.”

As clueless as he sometimes was, Jackson could see the potential trap being laid. Saying Li was cute and she'd expect to date him. Don't say anything and she'd get upset. Closing his eyes for a moment, he thought of what to say. “I see you as becoming more like one of the really smart mutants. Creating stuff that makes the world a better place and helps millions of people. You're already a lot smarter than anyone in town, think of what you'd do if you could break reality a little, or figure out how to make things that are only imagined right now. I can see you on Mars, working to get it from the remote outpost it is today, to a proper colony for dumbies like me.”

There was a long silence. “That would be nice,” Li finally said. Sighing again, she laid down on the rock, staring up at the sky. “If you could change your looks, what would you look like?”

“Honestly, I'm pretty happy with how I look right now. A bit stronger and a bit bigger would be nice. But I wouldn't want anything major. I'd be afraid of losing myself if I change too much.”

“I wish I felt like that,” she said so softly he could barely hear her.  

December 23rd

“Ow,” Jackson groaned in his bed, scowling at the morning sun shining in his window. His arms and legs were stiff and cramped, and his back ached. “What did I do to myself?” he asked the empty room, wondering how he'd slept so badly it felt like he'd broken some bones.

Dragging himself to the shower, the hot water helped a lot to loosen his muscles and ease the pain in his back. Stretching, his spine felt looser, and he almost lost his balance he leaned so far back. Catching himself, he looked down at himself wondering what was going on. But his back felt better, so with a shake of his head he finished washing himself and got ready for the day.

“When did you last have a haircut?” his dad asked, when Jackson finally made it to the kitchen.

“I dunno. Last month sometime, I think,” he replied, while grabbing a bowl of cereal.

“You probably need another one.”

Running a hand through his hair, he realized his hair was a little longer and shaggier than it should be. Usually, he kept it nearly in a buzz cut, he didn't want to waste any time on combing and styling it like some guys in school did, it seemed like a hassle. “I'll see if I can get one before school starts back up. What are you doing today?”

“I'm going to check out some of the trails and make sure they're in good shape for the winter tourists. This is just volunteer stuff today, want to join me? I heard that a few small boulders fell and I could use the help moving them out of the way.”

“Sure,” he said. Helping his dad with that kind of thing was hard work, but he'd get to ride around on the ATV and maybe work with a chainsaw. The workout was also something he looked forward to. His dad was a forest ranger and while not imposing to look at, he could bench press a little over 200 pounds. Jackson wanted to match him by the time he turned sixteen in eight months, and this would help.

“I'll get the ATVs ready, be out and ready to go in thirty minutes with drinks.”

Nodding Jackson sat down to eat his cereal. 

Twenty minutes later, he was in the driveway in warm, durable clothes, with a backpack of drinks, snacks, rope, a hatchet, a first aid kit and some other essentials. Getting on his old ATV he listened while his dad told him the trails they'd be checking before putting on his helmet and heading out along the side of the road. Living on the outskirts of town, they got onto the first trail pretty quickly and stepped on the gas.

The high desert of red sandstone and scrub land raced by. The cold wind that hit his neck and wrists made him glad for his gloves and coat. Even in Arizona the mountain highlands got cold in winter and thin patches of snow could be seen in the shade of rocks and thick scrubby bushes. The trail was clear and unlike during tourist season, empty. Not having to worry about horses, hikers, bikers, dirt bikes or ATVs was a nice change. Following his dad, Jackson felt alive and full of energy.

They reached a part of the path that entered a canyon and slowed down so they could watch for rocks or debris. A few more minutes and they stopped, a small scraggly pine tree had fallen onto the path. Jumping off, he patted his dad on the back. “I've got this old man,” he said with a grin.

“Old man!” his dad said. “If you call me that again, we can go for a run tonight and we'll see who is still walking by time we get back.”

Laughing, he grabbed the tree by the top and started dragging it off the path. Surprisingly it was really easy, and he practically threw it the last few feet. Looking at the tree, he shook his head in surprise.

“That looked easy,” his dad said, just as surprised.

“Yeah, I think it might have been rotten inside or something.”

“Maybe you are getting tough enough to actually call me an old man.”

Beaming at the compliment, Jackson put his helmet back on. They had a lot of trails to check, and since he was feeling so good there wasn't any point in wasting time.

Sitting on a horse-sized rock that had cracked off of the sandstone cliff, Jackson and his dad took a break. They'd spent all morning riding around moving branches, a few trees, and rocks that had ranged from softball size to basketballs. And now they were trying to figure out how to move something that weighed over a ton. If it was on wheels, one of the ATV's could have moved it easily, but solid stone on stone, that would be pushing things.

Chewing on some jerky, he patted the stubborn stone. “Think we could find some logs and use them to help the ATV get this thing moving?”

“Nah, it's practically flat on the bottom, it would just push the logs in front of it. I'm going to need an ATV from work, ours don't have the power or strong enough winches to make this rock budge.” His dad sighed. “We're either going to have to go into town now and spend all afternoon and some of the evening getting there and back, moving this thing and then heading for home. Or do it tomorrow. And your mom is not going to like me working on Christmas Eve.”

“This would be a good time to be a mutant,” Jackson said.

“What?”

“Li was talking about mutants last night, saying how she wanted to become one and change how she looks. She asked what I'd want if I was one. Right now, being able to move this rock would be nice.”

His dad nodded. “I can see why she'd want to change. She's a nice girl but she'll never win a beauty contest.”

“She's nice... but I wish she didn't have a crush on me.”

That got a chuckle. “She is following you around like a lost little puppy dog. You're letting her down nicely, I hope.”

“As nicely as I can. But she isn't taking the hint.”

“Teenagers usually don't. If you guys did, parents would have it a lot easier.” Stretching, his dad got to his feet. “All right lets head back into town. We'll grab a quick bite to eat before getting the big ATV and rope.”

“I was hoping we could ride around a bit more,” Jackson said, putting the snacks and bottles back in his bag.

“So was I, but we need to get this bastard out of the way. Unless you are a mutant and can move it yourself.”

Laughing, he turned to face the boulder and struck a martial arts pose. “Lets find out.” Concentrating on the rock, he tried to copy the sound martial artists made in movies, tensing his muscles and going all in on the joke. Punching the rock, his fist stopped a few inches from the boulder. There was a rush of energy through him, and he could feel dozens of rocks and dead wood rise up in the air, coalescing into a dense ball hanging ten feet in the air. A second later it plunged down into the sandstone, hitting it like a cannon ball shattering itself and the boulder.

Shocked, Jackson looked down and saw that his shirt and pants were bloody from shrapnel. Falling to his knees he realized the rock was no longer there. Most of it had been sent flying away from him in little pieces. His dad was yelling and he felt himself being grabbed before he hit the ground. The last thing he remembered was his dad running with him to the ATV, begging him to hang on.

December 28th

“I'm OK. I don't need you hovering over me, mom,” Jackson said, walking through the front door of his house for the first time in days.

“You still have four broken ribs and stitches,” his mom said walking right behind him as if she could hold him up if he fell. “You are going to go slow and take things easy until you're fully healed.”

“Yes, mom,” he replied, wincing in pain. Dr. Gilbert had said he was healthy enough to go home and rest, but even with the painkillers he hurt a lot. His hair wasn't helping things, it had kept growing until he had thick bangs that kept getting in his eyes. At least it had stopped halfway down his neck.

Moving gingerly to his room he eased himself into bed. He wanted to just collapse onto the firm mattress, but he'd rather not scream in agony, so he settled for going slow with frequent gasps of pain. Once he was down, it was almost blissful. The hospital bed hadn't been very comfortable, and the lack of privacy had not made sleeping any easier. Now all he wanted to do was take a nice long nap and let sleep take away the pain.

When he'd woken up in the hospital his ribs bandaged and stitches going from his shoulders down to his ankles where sharp stone splinters had been cut out of him, he'd hoped he had some kind of regeneration. That had been disproven when he hadn't healed up any faster than normal. He'd been too afraid of hurting himself again to try anything else with his powers, so he wasn't actually sure of what he could do.

Once his ribs were healed, probably around the end of January, he was supposed to go to Phoenix and get tested by the MCO. That would be interesting. Maybe he would be tough enough to become a hero.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” he said, wincing as his ribs let him know they were still broken.

Li rushed inside, practically running over to him. “Are you alright? I wanted to see you in the hospital, but everyone said I should wait.”

“I'm OK, Li. Just really sore.”

“I'm so happy you weren't killed. Your dad told us that you made all kinds of things into a ball and hit a rock with it and it all exploded.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that's what I remember. I was really close to it, so I got hit with a lot of the shrapnel.”

“When did you become a mutant?”

“No idea. I didn't notice anything different until I made the rock go boom.”

She smiled down at him. “Maybe we'll be mutants together.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, too tired and sore to think of anything else to say.

“And hey you're already changing a little, your hair is longer and it's turning black.”

Nodding, he closed his eyes, suddenly even more exhausted than he had been. Groaning it felt like his entire body was cramping up.” 

“Maybe you'll get strong and really durable too.”

“That would be nice,” he muttered, breathing as deeply as his ribs would let him, trying to make the cramping go away.

“You sound exhausted Jackson. I'll leave you alone, but I'll be back tomorrow, get some sleep.”

“Thanks, Li.” His body felt heavy, and even with all the pain he felt himself losing consciousness. He was asleep before his friend even left the room.

“That's perfect,” Li said to herself, as she sat alone in her room.

She'd made another AI picture, this one showing her future self, looking really pretty, not her ugly body and face. The real her was wearing a superhero outfit, and Jackson was holding her in his arms. But this Jackson had thick black hair, wearing a stylish super suit and he was really muscular. She was sure that once his powers finished manifesting, he would be super strong and hard to hurt.

“I can't wait until we can be together properly,” she whispered, picture the two of them kissing each other after a day of fighting crime and saving people.

Unknown to her, her eyes glowed faintly. 

December 30th

“What are you doing out of bed?”

Jackson smiled at his mom. “I'm feeling great, my ribs barely hurt at all.” He demonstrated his good health by stretching and twisting. There was only the slightest bit of pain from his torso. “I guess I've got some healing powers after all.”

“You're sure you're OK?” his mom asked, looking really doubtful.

“Yeah. So you'd better make an appointment with the MCO soon. I want to know what else I can do.”

His little brother poked him in the side. “Does this mean we can shoot you and you'll be fine?”

“Marshall! Don't talk about shooting your brother. Or anyone for that matter!”

Laughing, Jackson grabbed his brother by the neck and rubbed a knuckle into his skull. “No you can't shoot me. But I'll probably heal really quickly from now on. OW!” He let Marshall go, as his pelvis cramped up, it almost felt like someone had punched him in the balls. His testicles didn't hurt, but the painful cramping sensation was almost identical, and he found himself hunched over in pain. 

“What's wrong?!” his mom demanded rushing over to him.

“No idea,” he gasped. “I just got cramps from my knees to the stomach and my hips and ba- crotch really hurt.”

She helped him sit down and got the pain pills he'd been prescribed by the doctor for his ribs, while Marshall got a glass of water. Gulping the pain killers down, it took a few minutes before he started to feel all right.

“Mom, can you get me that power testing soon. Maybe they'll figure out what's going on with me.”

“I will, honey. Just go relax on the couch or in bed for now,” she said. She looked almost as worried as when he'd first woken up in the hospital.

MCO Office,Phoenix Arizona,
January 3rd, 2017

The MCO tester looked at the medical report looking very confused. “You went from having four broken ribs, seven cracked ribs, and over twenty deep cuts that required stitches, to some light bruising around your torso in six days after leaving the hospital. And your doctor saw no sign of enhanced healing. That's everything you know, Jackson?”

“That's right. It seems like as soon as I got home I just started healing, by New Years Day I wasn't feeling anything,” Jackson said.

The tester looked at the cut on Jackson's arm again. He'd had Jackson try to will it healed and that hadn't worked. “There is no sign of healing. Did you heal in your sleep?”

“Not really. I felt a lot better after I went to sleep in my own bed, but the entire next day my ribs were itchy and I kept feeling better and better. I was able to breathe with almost no pain by evening, and I kept stretching and moving around as I felt better during the day.”

“And you said that you've gained muscle in the last three to four days?”

He nodded, flexing his arm to show the new definition. “I think I was already getting stronger before then, but it really took off once I left the hospital.”

Tapping his pen on the table, the tester looked stumped. “You don't have a BIT which would have explained the hair growth, rapid strength gain, and the healing. I don't know how to record your regeneration accurately. About the only straight forward power you do have is your telekinesis.”

“That is cool, but I kind of wish it wasn't so violent,” Jackson admitted. He'd spent an hour destroying things with his power. It seemed to work best when he could grab loose objects up to fifty pounds each, turn them into a large ball of debris and smash his target. That had destroyed a truck engine, shattering it into little pieces. But even without debris the TK ball could seriously dent a thick metal plate. It was like his mind was a mini-cannon. He'd also been able to nudge a few small things if he really concentrated, but if he stopped thinking slow, gentle thoughts for a second, whatever he was 'touching' went flying at high speeds.

“With training you may learn to control it better, but that will take time and work.”

“Cool. So what exactly am I?” he asked.

“I'm tentatively putting you as a TK 3, Energizer 1, and Regeneration 3. But I will need you to come back for follow up testing, lets say near the end of February. By then your powers should be a bit more stable, and I'll have a colleague to help figure you out. Let's get your MID and tell your mother. Do you have a codename picked out?”

“Not really. But my brother really likes the idea of calling me Crusher. So let's go with that for now.”

“All right Crusher. Time to take your picture.”

Following his tester back to the lobby, Jackson wished he'd been able to get some real answers from the testing. Instead he was even more confused.

January 7th

Reaching out, Jackson felt his power grabbing hundreds of pieces of gravel and slam them together into one large mass that was almost as big as he was. Concentrating on holding it together, some of the larger pieces fell to the ground but the ball didn't really change.

Li watched her phone counting the seconds. “Five, six, seven, eight, nine-”

With a grunt, he sent the ball of destruction flying as far as he could before it fell apart completely. The projectile went in a high arc, if he had to guess it was at least a hundred feet up. Then it came down causing a large spray of rock and dirt in between two markers they'd set up before practising.

“Looks like it came down just a little past the four-hundred yard marker. That's the farthest yet. And you nearly hit ten seconds,” Li told him, sounding impressed.

“Yeah, I'm getting better,” he replied. Wiping sweat from his brow, Jackson took a big drink of water. He'd been practising all morning and it felt like he'd spent most of it jogging. “I just wish I could do more than be a glorified cannonball.”

“Once all your powers come in, I'm sure you'll impress everyone. And no one is going to want to mess with you.”

That got a smile out of him. “Yeah. Being able to crush a car is a fight winner.”

“I hope my powers come soon,” Li said staring off into the distance. “Even if it's just being a devisor or gadgeteer. I'll make sure I rock the look. No one will overlook me then.”

“Be careful what you wish for. My first time using my power I ended up in the hospital. I was lucky I didn't get a rock in my brain.”

Hitting his arm, she smiled up at him. “I don't think I'd get any really dangerous power. And I'm smart enough not to make weapons and play around with them for fun. But an exemplar and a gadgeteer or devisor. That seems like my thing.”

“Exemplar... that's the one with the BIT right?”

“Yep. I know just what I'll look like when I finally manifest.”

His body chose that moment to get an all over cramp, which had been becoming more and more common in the last week. Wincing, he struggled to make his muscles relax, and tried to stretch it out.

“Cramps again?” Li asked. “Want me to give you a massage?”

“Nah. I just need to ride it out. It'll be over in a minute or two.” Gasping as his hands twisted into claws for a moment, the pain slowly subsided. “I wish I knew what the hell was going on with me.”

“Dr. Gilbert couldn't tell you?”

“He's clueless. He thinks it has something to do with my manifesting, but he's just been able to tell me that it doesn't seem to be immediately dangerous. He's got me on a list for some tests next month in Phoenix.”

The frustration from the pain and uncertainty turned into anger. His body was changing, his now thick black hair was the smallest of the changes, and he had no idea why, or what would happen in the end. His power reached out grabbing more stones and gravel slamming them together so hard it sounded like a landslide. A moment later it shot forward like a bullet far faster than any others he'd tried, and hit a boulder sticking out of the ground. They both shattered into pieces.

Almost instantly the anger began to fade away, leaving him standing there, glaring at the dust cloud, chest heaving, wondering what the hell had just happened.

He heard Li moving beside him. Turning to look at her, she was staring wide eyed, her face pale, a hand reaching out. “Are you OK?” she asked softly.

“Yeah. Sorry. I just... I just got really angry all of a sudden.”

Reassured Li patted his arm and pulled gently to make him sit down. “It's going to be all right. I'm sure nothing too bad will happen.”

“I hope so. I really hope so.” Feeling scared and alone, he reached out to hug Li, holding her tight to his chest. She looked up into his eyes in surprise, then a smile, bigger and brighter than he'd seen from her in years, came to her lips. For moment it looked like her eyes were glowing, than she was hugging him back, pressing her face into his shoulders. He was too scared to think about her eyes, all he wanted was to feel needed and she was giving him that.

January 10th

“What is going on?” Jackson whispered to himself.

Looking in the mirror he looked different. His hair was mostly black by this point, with only some blonde hair left, the rest had fallen out and been replaced. His skin was splotchy. There was his regular lightly tanned white skin, but there were patches where it was slightly darker. It wasn't a tan or a mole, but a darker shade of white. And his eyes looked narrower, a little sharper at the corners. He still mostly looked like himself, but he was changing.

What was he changing into?

His stomach roiled and cramped, nearly sending him to the floor. Jackson practically fell to the floor in front of the toilet, lifting the lid just in time to vomit his breakfast into it. His stomach twisted itself into a knot, bringing his sides and back with it. If he hadn't already gone to the bathroom he probably would have soiled himself at the same time.

Finally the pain ended. Flushing the toilet, he struggled to his feet. Washing his hands and face, then rinsing out his mouth, he looked at the mirror once more. He had to get ready for school and he looked terrible.

He looked like a freak.

He had to cover up the splotches.

Exiting the bathroom he went to his parents room to get his mother's makeup. Looking through the bottles and containers, he found some foundation, which even he knew was supposed to smooth out the skin. Going back to his bathroom, he started applying it to the discoloured skin, a growing desperation to cover it up had taken over. If he could make his skin normal, everything would be fine.

Twenty minutes later, his mom was knocking on the door. “Jackson! It's time to get to school! What are you doing in there?”

He couldn't open the door. His face was caked in foundation, but it didn't look right. It actually looked worse than before. Tears started streaming down his face, making his face even more of a mess. Sliding to the floor, Jackson sobbed loudly, trying to stop, but his emotions were out of control. He had no idea what was wrong with him, and he wasn't in charge.

The door opened and his mother rushed in to kneel beside him. As soon as she realized there wasn't any blood, she threw her arms around him, telling him everything would be all right. He tried to stop crying but the tears wouldn't stop. He just kept sobbing smearing the foundation onto her blouse.

Then he felt normal again. He was embarrassed about crying like a baby, and he realized he was an idiot for putting on foundation, but he wasn't upset anymore. Confusion at his sudden mood swing started warring with the embarrassment.

Panting a little from sobbing, he pulled back. “Sorry. I don't know what the he- heck just happened. I- my eyes and skin are changing, and I just wanted to hide it. But I just made it worse, and then I couldn't stop crying.”

“It's OK, honey,” his mom said. “Wash your face, maybe have a shower and go relax. You can skip class today. I'm going to see if I can get you in to see the doctor. Your mood swings are getting worse, and with your new powers, I don't... I want to know what's causing it.”

Wiping his eyes, Jackson nodded. “Thanks. I think I'll have a shower.

Dr. Gilbert looked at Jackson's eyes, chewing on his tongue as he did, a sure sign he was interested in the new problem. “Your eyes have definitely changed.”

“I know. What changed and how?” Jackson asked.

“You seem to have lost the crease most White people have, gaining a monolid, which is more common in Asians. And you've developed an epicanthic fold, it's the new fold at the inner corner of your eyes, again most common in Asians. It's why your eyes look narrower and a little smaller. They haven't actually changed much, it just looks like it,” the doctor said.

“And my skin?”

“There are definitely changes there. I've been reading up a bit on mutants, and Gross Structural Dystrophy, GSD for short, seems to be a problem for you. It's when your body changes due to your mutation, you've probably seen the mutants who have gained scales, some crystal-like growths, an animalistic appearance, that's often the cause. From the early signs, I'd say yours is making you look Asian.”

“You're kidding me. I get powers and they decide I should become Asian?” Jackson shook his head in disbelief. He had been prepared to hear he was turning into stone or growing fur, or something like that. But changing his race. That sounded too simple and too weird at the same time.

“I'm sorry but that's the best I can say until you've changed more. It would match the black hair.”

He felt his anger building up, wanting to explode. Holding his hands tightly, he breathed deeply, forcing it down before it could escape. “What about my mood swings?” he asked once he had it under control.

“I'm not sure yet, but I do have some suspicions there. First have you been having trouble getting an erection?”

Blushing, he nodded. “Yeah. I haven't had as many and I don't really think about them much anymore. I figured it's just stress from everything.”

Dr. Gilbert nodded. “And the mood swings, are they usually the same emotion?”

He shook his head. “Usually it's either getting angry or sad. But I've had a few where I was just really, really happy, or wanted to hug someone and not let go. They usually last a few minutes than go away as if they never happened.”

“I believe you have a hormone imbalance. The mood swings, less erections, and not thinking about sex as much, it's three of the five common signs in men. With your mutation, it could have caused your hormones to become unbalanced.” He started writing something on the computer.

“Will it go away?”

“That's hard to say. Once you finish your changes, it's possible they'll settle down. Or you may need hormone therapy, which could last a few months or your entire life. We don't have enough information yet, and need to confirm if you have it.” He printed something out and handed it to Jackson. “So I need you to go to the lab and give them some blood. I'll set you up for an appointment a week from now, when the lab report should be back, and we'll have a better idea of what's wrong and how to fix it.”

Sighing, Jackson took the paper. He didn't have a firm answer about what was wrong with him, but at least he had a good idea of what it was. That was something he could hold onto. And it should be fixable. He could live with that. “Thanks, Dr. Gilbert. I really appreciate this.”

“It's my pleasure, Jackson. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to your mother and give her a quick rundown on what's going on.”

He nodded, said goodbye and went to tell his mom that the doctor wanted to see her.

January 16th 

Sitting bay himself in the high school cafeteria, Jackson stared down at his lunch. He wasn't used to eating alone. He had never been really popular, but he'd been in the nice middle ground between the cool kids and the outcasts. It made cruising through high school without any pressure easy. Now that he was a known mutant, and more importantly was changing by the day, his old friends and the school as a whole didn't know how to deal with him.

No one had actively bullied him, but they'd mostly been keeping their distance. Especially after he'd growled and formed one of his cannon balls after getting bumped. He'd let it collapse before it had hurt anyone, but he'd heard people talking about ragers when they thought he wasn't listening.

“Hey, Jackson!” Li plopping down in the seat next to him.

“Hi Li,” he said.

“So how have you changed today?” His best friend seemed to be the only one happy with his changes. She'd liked him before, but ever since he'd started looking obviously Asian, she'd gotten even more clingy and happy.

“I think my skin has finally stopped changing,” he said. The last patches of his old colour had finally vanished sometime during the night. Now when people saw him with his family, they would think he was adopted. Looking in the mirror he was struck by a big dose of uncanny valley. He'd almost prefer getting metal for hair or something really obvious, then it would seem more real.

“Your cheekbones and jaw have narrowed a bit. You're starting to look like you could be in a Japanese boy band. It's really hot,” Li said.

“I preferred my old looks.” he took a bite from his burger, wishing the day would end.

She leaned against him and looked up with her big eyes trying to be cute. Her skinny, boyish face didn't do her any favours. “I liked you before, and I like you now. You just look different, but inside you're still the same. And you went from being ruggedly handsome to being boy band hot.”

“Thanks,” he said, not really feeling in the mood to talk about his changes.

“I had my AI program make a picture I think you'd like.” She took out her tablet and opened a file for him to look at.

He glanced at it, and nearly choked on his burger. It was the new him, with more muscles, in a red, white and blue costume and a ball of rocks over his head ready to be thrown. Behind him was a cute girl, he assumed it was Li, in some type of power armour painted in the same style as his costume. “That's... pretty good,” he finally said.

Beaming she pressed tighter against him. “Thank you! I've been trying to come up with a good codename for when I manifest, but I can't think of anything I like. Maybe you can help me?”

His mood dropped, all he wanted to do was slink away and die. A moment later the cramps hit him, his chest and shoulders burned as the muscles twisted and tightened. Li felt him tense up and saw the grimace of pain. She squeezed his arm, not saying anything until the pain finally eased.

“You feel better now?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, trying to sound alive and happy, not dead inside. “What are the codenames you're thinking of?”

Flicking the tablet to a writing program, his friend started going over her long list of potential names. Jackson tried to focus on them, but his heart wasn't in it.

January 19th

Once more Jackson sat in the doctor's office watching Dr. Gilbert closely. This time his mother was with him, holding his hand firmly in hers as they waited to hear the verdict on his health.

Dr. Gilbert was using his professional expression at the moment, never a good sign. “Jackson, Jeanne, the lab report has come back, and it's... odd. Jackson, your testosterone levels are a little lower than normal, which should affect your bone density and muscle mass, but as we can see you're actually gaining muscle and have lost almost all of your fat. However that would explain your irritability. It's also relatively easy to fix.”

He breathed a sigh of relief at the first good news he'd heard in a while.

“Unfortunately you are also showing low serotonin. That balances your mood when it's at proper levels. With how low it is, you are likely suffering from depression and potentially other mood disorders. Have you been feeling suicidal?”

Jackson shook his head as his mom squeezed his hand. “I've been feeling down, but not that bad.”

“Good, very good. You mentioned feelings of anxiety in your last visit. That can be explained by the serotonin deficiency. Your sleep is still normal?”

He nodded. “Maybe a little more than usual, but I think that's from all the changes.”

“Keep an eye on that, sleep problems are a common symptom of your condition.” Dr. Gilbert looked over his tablet. “Your other hormones are equally unbalanced. You are producing more estrogen and less progesterone than you should for your age. I know they're usually thought of a female hormones but estrogen is important in bone growth as well as producing testosterone. And changes in progesterone levels will cause of mood swings. We're going to have to have you tested more thoroughly to see how much your hormones swing during the day. So I'm going to set up another appointment for you in Phoenix to do just that. The only time I can get you in with your insurance is after February 15th.”

“So next month I get to be examined for my mutation, another powers testing, and now hormones. Great,” Jackson said with a lot of sarcasm, staring up at the ceiling.

“Sorry, Jackson, it's the best I can do. But at least I can start you on some basic hormone therapy for your testosterone and serotonin. We'll need to fine tune the dose, but you should have your mood swings mostly under control,” Dr. Gilbert said, trying to sound upbeat.

“Thanks, doctor,” he replied. He wished he had never manifested.

January 25th

“Are you turning into a girl?” Li asked, as they sat in his bedroom.

“Not that I know of,” Jackson said. He should have been insulted, but he couldn't really blame her for asking. His face had kept changing, and in dim light he could be either a guy or a girl. He'd also slimmed down a lot. His body was still muscular, and he could bench press two-hundred pounds easy, but he was so slim it didn't look right. Still everything down there was the right size, and he wasn't growing tits. In fact he had almost no body fat on him anymore, it was all muscle, bone and organs.

“Well if we put makeup on you, grabbed you a dress and a padded bra, you could pass as one,” Li said.

“You're really not helping my mood right now, Li.” He'd started taking his hormone medication, and his mood swings had eased up a bit. Still it was best for him to try to stay calm and not worked up.

“Sorry,” she said, looking down at her lap. “I'm just upset I haven't manifested yet. You're just a little older than me, I should have manifested by now.”

“Maybe you won't manifest. Most people don't.” He knew as soon as the words left his mouth he'd said the wrong things, but he had no way to take them back, and wasn't sure he wanted to.

She scrubbed at her eyes, and answered in a quiet voice that was on the verge of tears. “I have to manifest. It's th-the only way I'll be pretty.”

He knew he should say something. Tell her she was pretty, or really make her day and ask her out on a date. He kept his mouth shut. He was in no shape to date anyone with all of his problems, emotional and physical. And he still saw her more as his little sister, his not very attractive little sister.

Her look of betrayal when he stayed silent hurt. He started to open his mouth when depression slammed it shut and he could only lean against the wall, wishing it would all go away.

“I'll see you later, Jackson,” she said, storming out.

Listening to her leave, wanting to go and get her back, he couldn't work up the energy to move. If he'd had anvils tied to his hands and feet, it would have been easier to get off the bed.

The front door slammed shut, Li was gone. Sitting there, wishing he wasn't such a failure, Jackson wondered when this hell would end.

His muscles started to tighten all over his body. He winced knowing this set of cramps would be a bad one. Reaching for the bottle of muscle relaxants he kept by his bed now, his hand barely made it halfway before he started screaming. Bones cracked as the muscles around them twisted and tightened, wrenching his skeleton in ways it shouldn't bend.

Shrieking so hard it felt like his throat was being shredded, he barely heard his parents come running before he passed out.

January 26th

“I am getting really sick of the hospital,” Jackson said.

“Yeah, so am I son,” his dad said, patting his shoulder, while his mom and little brother looked at him sympathetically.

“I don't think I'm going to be your son for much longer,” he muttered. When he'd woken up in the hospital perfectly healthy, despite having nearly half the bones in his body fractured and broken by the time the ambulance had gotten him to the hospital, Dr. Gilbert hadn't wanted to give him a mirror. It had taken a mood swing that had him sobbing and crying like a baby followed by almost blasting a hole in the wall to finally get a look at himself.

His face had gone from androgynous to very feminine. His lips were full, and if he remembered what Li had once said while looking at pictures of famous women, they were shaped like cupids bow. All he knew was that if they weren't on him, he'd want to kiss them. His eyebrows were perfectly formed into thin lines popular with models, long eyelashes, his eyes were bigger, brighter, and even more Asian looking. His nose was small and cute, his mom had called it a button nose, whatever the hell that meant. And his skin was soft and flawless.

That wasn't the only change. His nipples were larger, clearly feminine, even if he didn't have any breasts. His muscles, which he still had fortunately, had been well defined the day before, now they were smoother, covered in a thin layer of fat, making him look more rounded and sleek. His already depressed mood had collapsed and still hadn't recovered.

“It's going to be OK, Jackson. Remember this isn't a BIT,” his mom said. “I've been reading up on things, and since this is GSD and you're still human looking, there are things we can try. Getting your hormone issue fixed should help with your muscles and fat distribution. And we can get plastic surgery to make you look more masculine again.”

Nodding along, mostly to act like he wasn't feeling completely hopeless, Jackson wondered when his mother had begun talking like a doctor. He realized it had been in the last month, whenever she talked about his manifesting and powers, she'd become more and more clinical. It was odd. Not as odd as his own changes, but still something he really wasn't used to.

Marshall grinned at him. Jackson knew that his little brother was about to do something very stupid, very funny, or possibly both. Since the ten-year-old was smiling at him, he was pretty sure it would be very stupid.

“I got you a present,” his brother said.

“What is it?” he asked, wincing at how his voice cracked and went higher.

Taking a bag out from under his coat, Marshall revealed a pink t-shirt. On the front of it was enough glitter, rainbows, unicorns and hearts to make it look like a party for 5 year old girls had vomited onto a shirt.

Jackson couldn't hold back. He started giggling, and then laughing. It became a real belly laugh at the absurdity of the t-shirt and the whole situation. His life had gone from normal to insane in a month, and there was nothing he could do about it. The laughing wouldn't stop. It started hurting his throat, and through his tears he saw his family becoming more and more concerned.

Spots started dancing in his eyes, he could barely breathe. His laughter became gasps of pain, and it still wouldn't stop. His dad ran from the room yelling for help.

And then the out of control emotions stopped. Curling into a ball, his body heaving as he filled his lungs with air, tears of pain and fear kept falling from his eyes. His mom hugged him, her own tears joining his.

January 30th

Answering the door, Jackson wasn't surprised to see Li standing there looking down at her feet, her book bag held in front of her.

“Hey Jackson, can I come in?” she asked.

“Yeah, you want anything to drink?” he asked, stepping aside.

“No thanks. I have your homework for today and all the notes I took while you were gone.” Opening up her bag she took out a folder full of paper.”

Taking it, he went and sat on the couch, waving for her to join him. “Thanks.”

“You really changed a lot. I heard that it was bad, but...” she stopped talking and just looked at his new face.

“No one has any idea if I'll keep changing and go full girl, or stay something like this. I don't even know if I'll be going back to school. My mood swings are getting worse, and my hormones are even more confusing than before.”

“So you'll be home schooled?”

“Probably. I can't really do much at school if I cry at the drop of a hat, start laughing for no reason, or get angry and destroy a wall.”

Biting her lip, Li kept studying his face. “Well if you need help I'm here for you. And when I manifest, maybe I can help you even more.”

Biting his tongue as irrational anger, alongside the more understandable annoyance rose up, at Li's continued insistence that she was going to manifest, Jackson counted to ten. He could feel his powers reaching out to grasp things around the room, but he clamped down hard on that so nothing did more than shake a little.

“Thanks Li,” he finally managed to say.

“You know, you look kind of familiar like this,” she said, not realizing how close to the edge he was.

“How could I look familiar?”

She leaned in closer, tilting her head this way and that, as she examined him a little too closely for his comfort. “I don't know. But you really look like someone I've seen. It's not any one thing, just a lot of little things that make me think I've seen your face somewhere.”

“How about we stop talking about my face.” He tried to think of something safe they could talk about that wouldn't get uncomfortable. “Want to help me with my homework?”

“OK,” Li said, her face lighting up at the thought of helping him.

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Jackson opened the folder and went straight to the math homework. Math was safe and would keep Li occupied.

One hour, and a plate of cookies later, Li looked around. “Shouldn't Marshall be home by now?”

“He's eating dinner at a friends house.”

A shy smile appeared on her face. “So... we're all alone for at least two more hours?”

Jackson felt his stomach drop. “Yes,” he replied very reluctantly.

He felt her lean into him, pressing her practically non-existent breasts into his arm. “Don't take this the wrong way, I'm only offering this because this might be our only chance. But if you keep changing into a girl, we won't be able to do anything. Do you... do you want to go to your room and... you know. Do it?”

Never in his wildest dreams had Jackson thought that he'd turn down the opportunity for sex. This was most virgin guys dreams. But it was Li. She was like his sister. And he knew she was desperately crushing on him. Taking her up on her offer would feel... wrong, like it was out of pity or abusing her trust.

And if he was going to be brutally honest about things, he knew she was a girl, but there was nothing attractive about her. She looked too much like a short, skinny boy for him to be attracted to her.

“I don't know,” he said, silently praying that he could get out of this without her crying. “With my problems. I don't want to suddenly start, uh, crying or get angry and hurt you. How about we wait until I have things under control?”

“I'm not worried. I know you won't hurt me,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.

“Li. Please just drop it for now. I know I'm a guy and supposed to want sex whenever and wherever, but seriously, I am having so many problems right now that I... it's just really not a good time.”

She looked up at him and he could almost see her heart break. “OK, I'm sorry Jackson,” she said softly, her eyes glistening with tears. “I should, I need to get home.”

“Li you don't have to go. We can talk, watch a movie, keep working on homework, order a pizza, whatever you want, except that.”

She ignored him, putting her books away and grabbing her coat. “Bye, Jackson.”

“Bye Li,” he said, not sure what else he could say, as she walked out the door.

Laying in bed, Jackson tried to sleep. It was early in the evening, but he just wanted the day to end. Unfortunately, his brain was replaying the last month over and over in his head, trying to make sense of what his life had become.

He wondered what Li was doing. Hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do, but dating her was the second last thing he wanted to do. No matter what he did it seemed that one of them was going to get hurt. Picking up his phone he wondered if he should send her a message, she'd probably be reading a physics book, or fooling around on her AI art program.

The tingling that always came before a cramp started up around his chest and pelvis. Biting his lip he curled up in a ball as his muscles tried to crush him.

“Please stop hurting me,” he whimpered, tears of pain leaking from his eyes.

February 10th

Putting on the small sports bra, Jackson felt humiliated. He didn't want to wear it, but the two mounds rising from his chest wobbled weirdly whenever he moved too quickly or walked around. And having his nipples showing under his shirt was something he wanted to avoid.

At least his mom had cut his hair into something sensible. It was still longer than he liked, but it wouldn't look odd on a guy, and it just needed a hair brush to deal with it.

Grabbing a shirt from his closet, it hung a little awkwardly on him. While his chest had gotten bigger, his shoulders had somehow gotten thinner along with his waist. It looked like that extra mass had gone to his hips and butt.

He finished dressing by putting on a pair of track pants. Most of his other pants didn't fit comfortably, being too tight at the hips and too loose at the waist. Tying the string of the pants tight, he was ready to leave his room. He wouldn't actually go anywhere, leaving the house to go anywhere people could see him was too embarrassing, but he could go to the kitchen to eat.

Everyone was gone for the day, so he could have his hours of solitude he desperately needed. Maybe he would eventually feel comfortable in his new body, but right at that moment, he felt like a freak who was being betrayed by his own flesh.

Getting a bowl of cereal for breakfast he thought about what he had to do for the day. There was homework, which his teachers kept emailing him and marking while he was out of school for his medical condition. Then cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming was the order for the day. His parents insisted he had to do chores and not just 'mope around all day' as they put it. It wasn't much work, and having something to do felt better than doing nothing.

Eating his daily dose of sugar and carbs, he wondered if he'd ever go back to school. Maybe once he was fully a girl and had a new wardrobe after they went to Phoenix for all of his upcoming tests, he'd feel up to going out in public. For now he was too much of a freak.

Sighing, he knew his parents would gently scold him for thinking like that. They were trying to get him in to see a therapist, but the one in town was busy and not really suited for dealing with a case like him. So, for now he was alone surrounded by the ignorant.

There was a knock at the door.

Looking up in surprise, Jackson's first instinct was to pretend he wasn't home. The visitor knocked again, more insistently.

Going to the door, he tried to keep his emotions under control, fighting his messed up hormones as best he could. When there was a third knock, he opened it up and saw Li for the first time in over a week. “Hi there!” he said in surprise, his voice soft and airy, which made him blush.

“Hi,” she said, looking nervous, and biting her lip.

“Shouldn't you be at school?”

“I skipped. I wanted to see you again.” She stood there for a moment as they both tried to think of what to say. “Can I come in.”

“Yeah sure,” he stood aside, then led her to the kitchen so he could finish his breakfast. “So... long time no see.”

“Uh-huh. I'm sorry about...” she bit her lip again, “about everything.”

“It's not your fault. I'm the one with a messed up mutation.”

“How much of th-the old you is left?”

“I'm somewhere between a boy and a girl. How long that will last, I don't know,” he admitted.

She tried to smile. “I'd offer you some of my clothes, but I don't think any of it would fit. You're-” she cut herself off and looked down at her non-existent chest.

“I'm sorry,” he said reaching out to pat her hand. “If you could have this body, I'd give it to you in an instant.”

“Thanks.” They looked at each other in silence for a few long moments. “Do you- do you like boys now, or do you still like girls?”

Taking a few bites of his cereal to stave off his answer, Jackson let himself think about it before answering. “With my mixed up hormones, I'm actually not feeling much of anything for anyone. It's a side-effect of my hormone imbalance, my libido is practically dead for right now. But I haven't started looking at guy's butts or anything.”

“Oh,” Li replied and seemed to sink down into herself.

They sat quietly for a several minutes, the silence broken by the crunch of cereal and the occasional tap of his spoon against his bowl. Neither of them knew what to say. He tried to ignore the way Li studied his face.

“Can you smile for me?” she asked.

“Why?”

“Because I'm certain I've seen your face before. Can you please just smile, a real smile with teeth.”

Confused, but wanting to help his friend, Jackson smiled as naturally as he could, forcing his full lips to curve upwards and reveal his perfect teeth. Li leaned in examining every part of his new face, making him start to feel really uncomfortable.

She gasped, her eyes going wide in shock.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I-I-” she stammered, then Li practically jumped to her feet. Wordlessly she raced away from the table heading for the door, ignoring his questions, stopping just long enough to shove her feet into her shoes and grab her jacket before she was running outside and down the street as if a monster was chasing her.

“What the hell is going on?” Jackson asked the air, watching her disappear around a corner.

February 14th

Jackson stared at the calendar. It was Valentines Day, and there was the annual school dance that night. He'd actually been thinking of going to it back in December. He hadn't been sure who he would ask to go with him, but he'd been thinking of which girl might give him a chance.

Now if he went, the boys would be hitting on him, at least they would if they didn't know who he was and what was still between his legs. Sighing, he felt the depression rising up like a cloud dragging him down into the depths he was starting to call home.

Laying on the bed, he stared at the ceiling, not willing or able to get up. It was already late afternoon and he'd only gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom and eat when his parents insisted.

“Jackson,” his mom said, tapping on his door. “Li is here. She wants to talk to you.”

“OK, tell her she can come in,” he said.

“She actually wants to talk to you outside. She said it's important.”

He kept laying there, not looking at his mother or anything but the ceiling. Finally he rolled to his feet. “Fine. Tell her I'll be a minute.”

“I will. She'll be in the backyard,” she replied sounding a little relieved.

Taking his time he put on a shirt over his sports bra and tightened his track pants. He nodded an unenthusiastic hello to his brother and dad as he grabbed his shoes, and then he left the house for the first time in days. Li looked up at him from where she was sitting on the patio table. She looked terrible, like she hadn't slept in a few days.

“Come on, we need to talk where no one can overhear,” she said. Her voice was tight and hoarse. It sounded like she'd been crying for a while.

“OK,” he said. Unlike Li, his voice was airy and high pitched. If he was in a movie he'd be the perfect voice for the idiot bimbo.

They walked out into the desert, following a path they used to use all the time when they wanted to talk together with no one overhearing them. Well away from the house, they sat down on a large smooth stone, facing each other. “So... what's up?” he asked.

“How could you do this to me?” Li demanded.

Jackson stared at her utterly confused. “Do what?”

She pulled out her phone, unlocking it, then handed it over. He looked at the screen, there was an AI picture of him. It wasn't an identical image, being more of an anime style, and not as muscular, or as tall, but the face could be his twin. “You made a picture of me?”

“I made this in November. It is, it was my ideal image. I knew I was going to manifest soon, and I made it so I could have my dream image to focus on.” Li was staring daggers at him, tears slowly forming at the corner of her eyes.

“How did I end up looking like what you want to look like?”

“You stole it,” she sobbed. “You know how badly I wanted to be pretty, and you stole it!”

“I didn't steal anything!” he shouted. “Do you think I want to turn into a girl? To have these mood swings?”

“All I wanted was to be pretty so you would notice me! Why couldn't you let me have my dream? I just wanted to be happy and make you happy too. Did you steal my powers too? Is this some evil fucking game for you? Torture the ugly girl, and laugh at her!”

“NO! I don't even know how I'd steal anything like this!” The near omnipresent depression slammed down hard, and Jackson found himself crying. Getting to his feet he started to stumble away.

“I HATE YOU!” she shrieked.

Jackson felt an intense heat building up inside him. Turning around, he saw through his tears Li's eyes glowing like they were pure energy. Then the pain engulfed him and he was shrieking like the damned.

Hitting the ground, his limbs twisted and crack. Flesh moved like liquid. His insides squirmed as if they were animals, moving around, changing, ripping apart and reforming. Blood flew from his mouth, painting the ground red.

Li was screaming something. He couldn't hear her as his blood roared through him, and his skull molded itself into a new shape. Fire erupted in his brain. Writhing on the ground, his nerves sent nonsense signals all along his body, nothing worked properly. He spasmed as his body was warped and remade. He felt himself growing cold.

His screams and spasms became slower, not because the pain was fading, he just didn't have the energy to keep it going. His vision was red, he saw Li was on her knees, her eyes still glowing, smoke rose from her open mouth. She was going to kill him.

Reaching out with his powers, he grabbed the rocks and dirt, forcing them form into a ball. Barely able to see through the red mist, and growing darkness, he brought the rocks down on his best friend, crushing her skull while she silently screamed. Lifting it back up with his mind, he hit her again, and again, and again, until it fell apart.

Rolling onto his back, he struggled to breathe.

An ATV came to a screeching halt close by. Looking up he saw his dad looking horrified. “Dad,” he whispered. “Help.”

“What in gods name have you done?” his dad asked.

He couldn't answer, he didn't have the strength. Closing his eyes, he fell into unconsciousness.

“Wake up, Crusher.”

Jackson groaned, slowly opening his eyes to reveal he was in a prison cell. It felt like he had been crushed, stretched and molded back together. He tried to move his arms, only to find they were handcuffed, a slight movement let him know there were similar cuffs on his ankles and both sets were connected together. “Water,” he whimpered at the two men outside the cell who were wearing baby blue armoured uniforms.

“If you cooperate we'll get you drink, Crusher. Stand up nice and slow. You're being put in the custody of the MCO, and will be transferred to Phoenix for questioning on the murder of Li Chen. If you don't give us any trouble, we will make sure you get treated nicely.”

It took him a moment to remember that his codename was Crusher. He hadn't used it once since he'd chosen it during power testing, and that felt like a lifetime ago. “I didn't want to kill her,” he whispered. “She was killing me.”

“If that's true, then after the investigation you'll be found innocent. Now stand up and move the middle of the cell. I'm Agent Gomez, my partner is Agent Martin, we don't want to hurt you, so just follow our instructions, got it?”

Nodding, he slowly sat up. His chest felt big and awkward. Looking down he realized his small breasts had become comically large. Getting to his feet with the shackles on was difficult, it was even harder thanks to his radically altered centre of gravity. His hips and butt had grown just as much as his breasts, and his waist was too small to be natural. If he had to guess he looked like a comic book character with ridiculous proportions.

At least someone had found a track suit that sort of fi him.

Stumbling and almost falling on his face, he made it to the centre of the cell and waited with his face hidden by thick black hair that had to almost reach his waist. The two agents opened the cell and while one of them stood well back, the other one went over to him holding a thick pair of handcuffs. Knowing what was going to happen, he held his arms up and out so they could go on. He wasn't in any shape to fight even if he wanted to. All he wanted was for the pain and confusion to stop.

“OK, Crusher, thanks for being so cooperative. We'll get you a bottle of water on the way to the van, and a bag of chips or something from the vending machine. When we get you to Phoenix and all sorted out, there'll be a nice hot meal for you and a lawyer,” Agent Gomez said. 

“My parents?”

“They've been informed. I can't say anything beyond that right now.”

Tears started to fall as Jackson realized his life was probably over. Silently he followed the agents into the main part of the police station.”

“-we're getting rid of that freak. I had to throw up when I saw the poor girl. Hope it gets the chair.”

Jackson flinched as he overheard the police officer talking when they left the cell area. From the corner of his eye he saw several cops nodding in agreement. They were going to kill him, and none of it had been his fault.

He stopped beside the agents, sobbing as quietly as possible while Agent Gomez filled out some forms, and Agent Martin went to the vending machine. Several minutes later he was in the back of the MCO van, drinking his water, wishing he was dead.

He had been in the back of the van, shackled to the seat for over half an hour before he started to actually think. There was a small grate that allowed them to talk to him and vice versa, they'd used it at the start before his lack of responses made them seal it up, and now he couldn't hear a thing. Even though he wanted to die, he had reached a point where he wanted to hear what might happen to him. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his power concentrating as hard as he could so he only 'grabbed' hold of the shutter on the grate. With great care and difficulty he slide it a little out of the way, letting him hear the two agents talking.

For several long minutes they didn't say anything of interest. Then he heard Agent Gomez talking on the phone and his ears perked up.

“Are his parents coming?” Agent Martin asked, presumably after the call ended.

“Nah. His parents are freaked at what he did to the girl. They aren't coming until they have a change of heart,” Agent Gomez said.

“Hard to believe she used to be a fifteen year old boy.”

“Yeah. I have no clue what happened there. From the pictures he was definitely a she yesterday, but she looked her age and could pass as a baseline. The testers were confused about her testing last month. They're going to be even more confused now. Probably won't matter much anyways.”

“Yeah, no jury is going to like her after they see the photo's of that girl.”

They were going to kill him. They'd have the trial, ignore everything he said because he didn't have any proof, and execute him as a dangerous mutant. It wasn't fair. He hadn't wanted to do it. It had been self defense. He hadn't done anything to deserve losing his body, going mad, or losing his life. The sadness and depression disappeared replaced by rage.

Jackson didn't think, he just let the anger loose.

His power reached out past the armoured sides of the van, grabbing anything he could from along the road. He could feel the ball of debris growing larger and larger, far larger than anything he had tried to make before. It followed behind the truck pulling painfully at his mind, he was too angry to care. With a roar of rage, he brought the wrecking ball up in an arc over the van and brought it down just in front of them.

The agents tried to stop in time, but it was too sudden and they slammed into the ball of rocks, destroying the front of the van. Jackson screamed as he was thrown out of the seat, only to be yanked to a stop by the shackles nearly breaking his wrists and ankles. The anger still controlled him. His power grabbed his chains, shattering them as they turned into ammunition. The baseball size ball of chains and shredded cuffs hit the heavily locked door denting it. He kept slamming the ball into it until the locks broke and the door swung open.

Limping from his bruises and the injuries Li and the crash had given him, he got out of the MCO van. A quick check showed the Agents were alive but unconscious. He started running down the highway, he needed to get away, maybe he could get a ride with someone before his name and face were everywhere.

Phoenix, ArizonaFebruary 15th, 2017

Wandering through Phoenix, clutching her cheap backpack that had all her worldly possessions, Jackson wondered where she'd be sleeping that night. After reaching the city late the previous night, she'd slept in a doorway in a dirty alley, terrified she'd be arrested or attacked every moment, she didn't want to do that again.

She'd managed to get some money during her ride to Phoenix with a scumbag who hadn't heard the alert about the dangerous mutant. It wasn't enough to get a room even if she had ID, and she'd spent most of it getting a meal and clothes. But she knew she'd been lucky to get the ride and the money, it was nice that something had actually gone her way for once. 

Well it had kind of gone her way.

Scowling, she told herself that plenty of girls lost their virginity in the backseat of a car. Just most of them had done it with a boyfriend. Hadn't been desperate for a ride. And pretty damn importantly, had been girls all their lives and had known that at some point they were probably going to have sex with a guy.

“OK, Jackson, what the hell are you gonna do now to make sure you don't have to do that ever again?” she asked herself.

There were an awful lot of police cars on the street, which didn't make her feel better about things. How many hot Asian's with massive racks, an unnaturally small waist, and a balloon butt, were there in Phoenix? Whatever Li had intended with her powers, it had left Jackson sticking out way too much. At least the baggy hoodie made her look like someone who had just gone overboard with a boob job, hiding the almost comic book proportions of the rest of her.

Sirens erupted behind her, without even thinking, Jackson was off and running towards an alley. Her dense muscles helped a lot making her sprint faster than most Olympians, and she was extremely glad she'd gotten a bra that actually fit that morning. Even with her weird body, running without one had hurt.

Tearing down the alley, she heard sirens all around her.

Cursing, she refused to give up, she was not going to end up executed for defending herself. The anger that had been bubbling up in her started to take over. Garbage, gravel and weaker parts of the surrounding buildings flew into the air, coming together like two giant fists just a few feet to either side of her.

Coming out of the alley, a cop car screeched halt a few yards away. With a yell, she brought the garbage down on the hood, crushing the engine and making the vehicle bounce.

“What the fuck was that?!” a woman shouted.

Turning, Jackson saw three people running towards her. The one in the lead was in a silvery armour covered in glowing blue lines, she was followed by a girl with black ink-like hair and weird blotchy brown skin, and a big guy in a motorcycle helmet was right behind them.

“Uh...” Jackson wasn't sure what was going on. Were these supervillains? Superheroes?

The trio came to a halt. “Are you going to stop us?” the armoured woman demanded.

“No... Are they after you or me?”

Cursing, the woman grabbed something from her pouch and threw it at the police car, where the two officers were just getting out of the wreck. Whatever the thing was, it started rumbling, making Jackson's stomach roil nastily for a moment. The cops groaned and fell to the knees, vomiting so hard it seemed like they might start throwing up some organs

More cop cars came into sight.

“RUN!” the apparent leader said.

Completely out of her depth, confused, and scared, Jackson started running alongside the group, who were ignoring her, too focused on the cops. The girl with inky hair said something, and the nearest cop car was surrounded in a pitch black cloud that moved along with it. There was the screeching of tires as the driver hit the brakes, and it was immediately rear ended by another cop. The cloud grew engulfing both of them.

Then the big guy grew to fifteen feet, pulled a revolver out of a holster and fired it at one of the cop cars coming up behind them. It boomed like a cannon, and the road got an instant crater just in front of the car. The bullet ricocheted off the asphalt, bringing chunks of the road along with it, as it hit the bottom of the police cruiser, destroying something important, before sending the vehicle into a skid. The big guy shrank back down to a more reasonable seven feet tall and started running once more.

All Jackson could do as she ran was wonder what had happened to her nice, peaceful, SANE, life.

Running down another alley, she saw that they were heading for a rather basic looking mini-van that seemed like any other vehicle. She came to a stop, not sure what to do. She didn't think they'd really want her joining them, even if they hadn't stopped her from following them this far. Then a hand grabbed hers and she found herself being dragged along into the van. The hand grew a body, a short and very skinny Asian kid who might have been all of fourteen, and could have been a boy or a girl, motioned with their head to hop in, while not letting go.

“Come on,” the kid said, their voice sounded kind of masculine.

With absolutely no better idea, she followed along, getting in the very back as the trio completely ignored her and the kid.

The big guy got in the driver's seat, and the inky haired girl sat shotgun, while the armoured woman scrambled into the back. Doing up her seat belt a little awkwardly with only one hand since the kid still hadn't let go, Jackson got ready for a car chase, but it never came.

Inky took out a knife, slashing her palm and slammed it down on the dashboard, while saying something that might have been a word, or a hairball. Nothing seemed to happen, but the big guy started the engine and waited calmly as five cop cars and some winged demon woman zoomed right past them.

“WOOHOO! WE DID IT! Now lets go get paid for a job well done! Pizza and beers on me tonight guys!” the armoured woman shouted.

“That was too close,” the big man said, taking off his helmet, revealing a tough looking Latino guy who looked to be about eighteen or twenty with short hair. He pulled out onto the street and went the opposite way of the police.

The armoured woman whistled and her suit seemed to turn liquid flowing into a backpack, revealing a brown-haired, young woman with a thick choker around her neck. Jackson squeaked in fear, which no one seemed to notice except for the kid, as she finally realized who the supervillain was. Forte, a new criminal who was quickly making a name for herself. This day, no this entire year, was just getting better and better.

“Cutie Pie, you in here?” Forte asked, looking in the backseat but apparently not seeing anything.

“Yeah, I made it to the car in time,” the kid said, letting go of Jackson's hand.

Forte's eyes widened. “Who the fuck are you?!”

Raising her hands, Jackson said, “I'm Jackson! I have no idea what the hell is going on!”

“She got rid of that cop car, and she seemed pretty clueless. It didn't seem right to leave her behind,” Cutie Pie said.

Rubbing her temples with a cybernetic hand, Forte said, “Cutie Pie, what have I said about bringing strays home?”

“Nothing,” the Asian kid said, looking confused. “I've never brought home a stray.”

“OK, new rule. No bringing strays home.” Forte turned her attention to Jackson. “You have thirty seconds to tell me why you decided to break a cop car, or we throw you back.”

“Uh... I'm wanted by the police because they think I murdered someone back in my hometown, But I was trying to save my life when a friend went crazy and really fucked up my body and was about to kill me! I got away from the MCO, and was wandering around here when I heard sirens and panicked!”

That earned a surprised look from Forte and the inky girl, the big guy was too busy driving and watching for trouble to pay attention to them. The supervillain sighed, shaking her head. “That's weird enough that it could be true. OK, if you pass a truth spell by Book, we'll bring you to Outlaw's Tavern. We're going there anyways.”

“Outlaw's Tavern?”

“Supervillain bar and hangout,” she looked at Jackson's eclectic clothes, all cheap stuff she'd picked up that morning at a thrift store. “I'm guessing you just got into town and have no idea what the hell you're doing?”

“Yeah. Yesterday I was just a mutant and living at home. I'm just fifteen years old, and everything kind of blew up with me in the middle of it all.” Having someone actually listening to her and not freaking out made the screwed up hormones running through her overreact, and she started to cry.

“Fuck me. OK, kid, we're going to pull over soon and Book will do her truth mumbo-jumbo spell. If you check out, we'll buy you a meal and talk a bit, you helped deal with some cops, you earned a bit of goodwill. Can you control your powers and crush cop cars whenever you want?” Forte asked.

“Yeah.”

“Cool. Maybe someone is looking for some muscle and can give you a job. That'll at least get you some money, and Outlaw Tavern is the place to find work if you can't go the legal route.”

Sniffling, Jackson wiped her nose with her sleeve. “Why are you helping me?”

“We all got dealt shit hands, and we need to do our good deed for the year,” Forte said with a shrug. Then she raised her cybernetic hand and jagged claws grew from her fingers. “Of course if you're lying to us, we will have to hurt you a lot. So, last chance to walk away safely if you have any bad intentions. You're sticking to your story?”

“Yes!” Jackson squeaked.

The claws vanished, and Forte wrinkled her nose. “Well, I believe you.”

“You do?” she asked, feeling a bit of hope for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

“Yeah, if you were a snitch or a mole, you probably wouldn't have just pissed your pants,” Forte said. "Cutie Pie you brought her home, you get to clean that up later."

Looking down, Jackson realized her thighs and butt were warm and wet. She started to cry.

The End